BOSTON (AP) - Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders has set up a new website to provide helpful information to young people in New England about their legal rights in school, sports, work and the juvenile justice system.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Energy has committed itself to updating energy efficiency standards for four common commercial appliances by May of next year, preventing a legal showdown with authorities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont and five other states.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire Senate will vote on a bill next week allowing the chemical cremation of bodies using a process that dissolves bodies into a soapy liquid using lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to dissolve bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders.

GROTON, Conn. (AP) - The commanding officer of a Navy submarine currently undergoing maintenance at Maine shipyard was relieved of duty Friday due to a loss of confidence in his leadership, the Navy said.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - University of Vermont-based Peace Corps recruiter Kelly Dolan helps send people to the farthest reaches of the globe, where they'll spend two years working on development projects as varied as community gardens in Central America or health education in Africa.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - An alliance of North American scientists is supporting work in the Dominican Republic to preserve the winter habitat of the rare Bicknell's thrush, which breeds on mountaintops in New York, New England and Canada.